In various settings, it may be useful to apply (e.g., distribute or disperse) various materials in a relatively controlled manner. For example, in agricultural settings, it may be useful to apply pesticide, herbicide, or fertilizer to select locations in a field, in order to control pest activity, kill weed, and encourage crop growth, respectively. Material for application may take a variety of forms, including liquid form or solid form. Liquid for application may be provided in various containers, such as liquid tanks, which may or may not be refillable by users. Various sprayer systems (e.g., a nozzle attached to the end of a telescoping or foldable boom) may be utilized.
Modern agricultural sprayers are typically self-propelled vehicles or towed implements. To extend the spray swathe achieved as the sprayer traverses a field, the sprayer may be outfitted with large fixed or retractable booms supporting the material transport and delivery components. For example, pipe or other conduit may run from a centrally arranged supply tank or trailer outward along the boom. Solution is then pumped from the supply tank under pressure toward the outer end(s) of the boom(s). When the boom(s) span long distances, sections of pipe or other conduit may be coupled together in series. This may be accomplished by the use of unions or other couplers attached to the ends of pipe sections by various means (e.g., threads, welding, etc.)
It may also be useful to distribute the material along the length of the boom in evenly spaced (or other) locations, for example, to conform to row spacing of the crop. As such, it is often desired to provide spray nozzles or other outlets in addition to or instead of at the unions between mating spray pipe sections in order to keep from the pipe sections from being excessively numerous or short in length. Consequently, the sections of the spray pipe may have spaced apart openings where nozzle assemblies are coupled to the pipe. Since the spacing and rotational orientation of the openings may be set according to the row spacing of the crop or other pre-determined spacing and positioning, the openings of one pipe section may need to be properly aligned with the openings of the mating pipe or pipes. Assembling the mating parts by threaded connections or welding and the like complicates the alignment of this spacing and orientation.
Further, it may also be useful to provide various flow control components to aid in proper flow through the spray pipes. For example, it is known to couple flow valves and aspirators to the spray pipes. Aspirators, for instance, may be mounted, by threaded or welded connection, at one or both ends of a spray pipe to improve inlet air flow to the spray pipe. Unfortunately these flow components may increase the number of joints in the assembly, and thereby further complicate properly locating the various spray outlets or nozzles across mating spray pipes of the boom.
Additionally, when manufacturing sprayers of various configurations (e.g., boom length, flow capacity, etc.), factors such as those noted above may significantly increase the complexity of manufacturing and may require inventorying numerous spray pipe assemblies (e.g., one or more for each model sprayer) or require each sprayer to be effectively custom built.